Wipro and Knowledge@Wharton Announce Winners of Innovation Tournament 2011

Panel Selected Top Solutions for Customer-Centricity and Sustainability. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) May 27, 2011 - Philadelphia, PA - On Wednesday, April 27th 2011, at a live presentation event at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a panel of seven judges for the Wipro-Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton Innovation Tournament selected the top five solutions related to customer-centricity and sustainability dot Judges selected the winners based on several criteria: novelty, feasibility, track record (for established solutions) and overall potential dot

The tournament received an overwhelming response with over 160 nominations coming in from across the globe. A total of $40,000 in cash prizes was awarded at the global event, with individual and corporate winners from India, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tanzania and the United States. Egg Energy, a low cost solution for electricity distribution in Africa presented by Rhonda Jordan, received the grand prize of $20,000. L3, a media technology and content distribution platform presented by Anil Gupte; Welectricity, a social media tool to track, compare and reduce electricity consumption presented by Herbert Samuel; WiseWindow, a real time customer experience applications/technology tool presented by Alex Costakis; and Revolo, an intelligent, hybrid plug-in solution for automobiles presented by Rajeev Kulkarni each received a prize of $5,000.

In addition to the cash prize, Egg-energy will be speaking at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum being held June 23 - 24, 2011 in San Francisco, CA.

The judges included Mukul Pandya, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief, Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton; Karl Ulrich, CIBC Professor of Entrepreneurship and eCommerce and Vice Dean of Innovation at the Wharton School; Christian Terwiesch, Andrew M dot Heller Professor of Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School; Madge Meyer, EVP Technology Fellow/Chief Innovation Officer for IT at State Street Corporation; John Burns, Chief Information Officer, at Investment BankCredit Suisse; and Phiroz Darukhanavala, VP Chief Technology Officer at Group Digital, BP Amoco P dot l dot c dot and the British Petroleum Co dot and David Souchik, Practice Partner at Wipro Consulting Services dot

Ulrich said, "This Innovation Tournament was a great success. All of the finalists' presentations were impressive but what made the winners stand out was the potential impact on business and society as a whole." Wharton professors Ulrich and Terwiesch co-authored the book Innovation Tournaments, upon which the event was based.

"Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton hopes to continue to harness and share the power of innovation and knowledge through its Innovation Tournament. We are looking forward to shaping next year's tournament and we hope that we can garner submissions that equal the thought provoking solutions that we had this year," said Pandya.

Speaking on the success of the tournament, Rajan Kohli, CMO - Wipro Global IT Business, said, "Wipro's brand stands for entrepreneurial spirit and innovation- for better business as well as for creating a better planet. With this in mind, we conceptualized the Innovation Tournament with Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton to provide a platform for real thought leadership that is not confined to the four walls of a corner office. We received an overwhelming response to the tournament, and are sure that the ideas presented here will shape a better tomorrow."

About Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton
Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton is a free biweekly online resource that captures knowledge generated at the Wharton School and beyond through such channels as research papers, conferences, speakers, books, and interviews with faculty and other business experts on current business topics. The Knowledge ( @ ) Wharton network - which includes Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and Middle East editions -- has 1.68 million subscribers worldwide and contains more than 2,000 articles and research papers in its database.

About The Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school - is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 4,800 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 86,000 graduates.

About Wipro
Wipro Technologies, the global IT business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) is a leading Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro Technologies delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology" - helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a practitioner's approach to delivering innovation and an organization wide commitment to sustainability, Wipro Technologies has 120,000 employees and clients across 54 countries.

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